Cowboys Lack Of Coaching Creates So Much Drama

By Dink Kearney | Dec 10, 2015

The Dallas Cowboys inconsistent and inept coaching has made games closer than they should be.

When Washington Redskins wide receiver DeSean Jackson fumbled a punt late in the fourth quarter, it appeared the Cowboys would score easily and escape with a win. Finally, the Dallas Cowboys had a game that was in their favor after they had lost so many games in heart breaking fashion. All the Cowboys had to do was take a few kneel downs, make the Redskins use up their remaining time outs, and kick the game winning field goal.

That sounds simple? Right? The Cowboys execute properly and they’ll win the game.

As we all know, that didn’t happen. The Cowboys did the very opposite. In fact, they did the opposite of everything a team is supposed to do in that crucial situation.

At the 1:26 mark of the fourth quarter, Cowboys veteran running back Darren McFadden runs 9 yards and out of bounds. Yes, McFadden runs out of bounds during a critical situation of the game, stopping the clock and allowing Washington not to use any of its remaining timeouts. The Redskins had two timeouts left, where they would have been forced to use at least one of them, if not for McFadden’s mental mishap.

As we all know, it gets better, way better. McFadden did the best Forrest Gump impersonation I’ve witnessed in a long time. On the next play, McFadden scores on a six yard touchdown with 1:19 left in the game. Of course, the Cowboys go up 16-9 after Dan Bailey‘s field goal.

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The Redskins got the ball back with 1:19 left in the game and an opportunity to tie it. Hollywood can’t write a better script for the Cowboys.

From the time Cowboys punter Chris Jones recovered Jackson’s fumble, the Cowboys literally ran seven seconds off the play clock, seven whole seconds.

The mental mistakes made by McFadden was due to coaching, or lack of coaching. The lack of coaching is one of the primary reasons every Cowboys game is full of drama and comes down to one possession.

The Cowboys have played 12 games and about nine of those games have been full of unnecessary drama provided by head coach Jason Garrett and his inconsistent coaching staff, especially offensive coordinator Scott Linehan.

Let us revisit some of the inept coaching that took place against the Redskins.

Although McFadden is a veteran running back, who should have known better than to run out of bounds in a critical situation, why wasn’t this point driven home from the coaching staff? Furthermore, why did McFadden score the touchdown instead of falling down and forcing the Redskins to use one of their timeouts?

McFadden scored the touchdown as if he had sealed the game.

Also, the Redskins defense allowed McFadden to score the touchdown. Why did the Redskins allow the Cowboys to score that touchdown you might ask? The answer is simple: Washington wanted the ball back so they could score.

That’s what you call good coaching, as simple as it may be.

Apparently, Garrett’s coaching acumen doesn’t go all the way to the top. He either coaches ultra conservative or doesn’t make in-game adjustments and somehow allows the unthinkable to happen.

On the Redskins final scoring drive, the Cowboys played Jackson in man coverage. Of course, Jackson beat Dallas’ defensive back Morris Claiborne on a 28-yard touchdown pass, redeeming himself from his fumble. Although Claiborne played good coverage on Jackson, there was no help over the top.

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That is one of the most inept coaching decisions I’ve ever seen. It’s equivalent to guarding Golden State Warriors’ sharp shooting point guard Stephen Curry with one man. Simply put, any good coach would have double teamed Jackson and prevented him from scoring a touchdown.

We already know the Cowboys squeaked out a win on Dan Bailey’s 54-yard field goal, which happened to be the game winner.

The reality is that should have never come down to Bailey converting a 54 yard field goal. If anything, Bailey should have kicked a shorter field goal on the Cowboys previous possession, leaving the Redskins with no timeouts and little time on the clock.

With Garrett coaching, this is the norm. He’s done it all season, pick a game and I’ll show you inept coaching.

It happened against the Atlanta Falcons when Garrett made no changes with a commanding 28-17 halftime lead. He simply allowed former back up quarterback Brandon Weeden to throw short passes instead of taking shots down the field, even when the Falcons defense took away the short passing game.

The Cowboys lost 39-28, allowing the Falcons to score 25 unanswered points. More importantly, the Falcons won’t make the playoffs and neither will the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, another hapless team the Cowboys lost to.

In the Bucs game, the Cowboys offense was as pedestrian and bland as they come. The Cowboys could only muster six points.

That’s amazing because the Cowboys have one of the best wide receivers in the game and they have no clue how to use him. For Linehan to be a veteran offensive coordinator, he uses little, or any, imagination when it comes to Dez Bryant. Bryant rarely lines up in the slot, goes in motion, and basically runs two routes, the fly and the slant.

If you’ve seen the Cowboys use Bryant differently, please raise your hand. This is sad because Bryant is a Pro Bowler who led all wide outs with 16 receiving touchdowns last season.

Although Bryant might not be 100-percent, he’s still lethal, effective, and will fight for every pass. It’s not Bryant’s fault that his coaches are inept. Inept coaching allows your team to lose twice in overtime, losing a game on an interception, blowing an 11-point lead, and losing by two touchdowns or more.

Garrett is a big Duke Blue Devils basketball fan, and a fan of Blue Devils head coach Mike Krzyzewski, who’s one the best college basketball coaches ever with over 1,000 victories and five National Championships.

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One of Coach K’s greatest attributes is that he’s a master at in game adjustments. Coach K knows how to put his players in position to win games.

That’s something Garrett needs to learn how to do.

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